Kingston Hyper X 1066mhz DDR 2 ram causing issues

[bluem4gic]

I recently decided to put my hard earned cash into building a new rig as the last one I built was nearly four years ago.
The system specs are as follows:-

Phenom II BE X940 OC @ 3.45Ghz

Kingston HyperX DDR 2 1066Mhz 4GB

His 4870 1GB ICE-Q 4+ Turbo (Previously Sapphire 4870 1GB)

Windows Vista x64 SP1

Seagate Barracuda 32Mb 1TB X2

Akasa PowerMax 850w

Thermaltake Shark

Creative Soundblaster XtremeMusic PCIE

ASUS M4A79T Deluxe AM2+


I been having problems ever since I built the rig when when running games. Anything from 10-15 mins - 1 hour and a half. Any game I will play will crash either to the desktop with artifacting issues or I will get the BSOD. This happens regardless of if my system is overclocked or is running on stock settings.

The games that this issue occuring in are

Fallout 3

Crysis

Left 4 Dead

COD 4

CODWAW

Burnout Paradise

Unreal Tournament 3


Initially, I thought the problem was to do with my original Sapphire 4870 1gb which I returned for a refund. I then purchased a HIS 4870 1gb ICE-Q 4+ Turbo which is giving me the same issues.

I have checked the core temperatures with GPU-Z. But both cards are running within accepted parameters with 43-56C when idle and 60-70c on load.

I have tried both Memtest86 and Prime95 which both don't display any errors to do with the memory when I run them.

After reading several forums. I have come to the conclusion that the issue is do with my Kinsgton HyperX 4gb 1066Mhz ram. Alot of people seem to have the same problem as me as for the life of me I cannot get the ram to run at 1066mhz as advertisted. It runs at 800mhz. I have changed the voltage to what has been suggested and still observe the same issue.

My question is does anyone know the correct timings for the ram mentioned above or is it an issue that cannot be resolved and it would be better to change to ram for something that works?

I really just want to get my rig running correctly with games. As it currently funtions correctly when watch MKV, DVDs, using the internet etc

Any help from anyone will be apperciated as I am currently tearing my hair out.

Thanks in advance

 

[Vagike]

The 4 dimms (4x1GB) of PC2-8500 Kingston HyperX that i run have timings of 5-5-5-15 @ 2.2volts

 

[nafets]

Read the SPD values using CPU-Z. That should give you some idea. Here's an example pic from my PC:

 

[bluem4gic]

Cheers

I will try this out when I get home

Hopefully it will resolve my issues. Were you having a similar issue before with your motherboard settings the timings incorrectly?

 

[bluem4gic]

I forgot to mention that the ram I have is dual Channel

2 x 2gb

Would the settings have to be any different?

 

[Vagike]

Not really. When I first my put the system together, the BIOS 'detected' timings at 5-5-5-18 @2.2V.

Was the the ram 'SLi-ready'? What are the DIMM sizes?

 

[Vagike]

LOL. too quick for me.

 

[Vagike]

yes that make a difference. I looked on Kingston's webpage, they produced two 2x2 kits.

KHX8500AD2K2/4G that run at 7-7-7-20 @ 1.85-2.0V

and

KHX8500D2K2/4G that run at 5-5-5-15 @ 2.2V

Ultimately, you need to check model number.

 

[Vagike]

what mobo are you running?

 

[bluem4gic]

Hi Vagike,

I running these dimms KHX8500AD2K2/4G that run at 7-7-7-20 @ 1.85-2.0V

Currently they are running at 1.85 volts

on ASUS M4A79T Deluxe. The motherboard has 0602 bios installed. I just noticed there is new bios out, however none fixes mentioned fix my current problems

I have tried the voltage that is mentioned already but not the timings. I am not sure what each number stands for in the CMOS

Could you help me out with explaining what each number means?

 

[Vagike]

quoting from Hardwaresecrets.com...


The operations that these numbers indicate are the following: CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-CMD. To understand them, bear in mind that the memory is internally organized as a matrix, where the data are stored at the intersection of the lines and columns.

CL: CAS Latency. The time it takes between a command having been sent to the memory and when it begins to reply to it. It is the time it takes between the processor asking for some data from the memory and it returning it.

tRCD: RAS to CAS Delay. The time it takes between the activation of the line (RAS) and the column (CAS) where the data are stored in the matrix.

tRP: RAS Precharge. The time it takes between disabling the access to a line of data and the begin of the access the another line of data.

tRAS: Active to Precharge Delay. How long the memory has to wait until the next access to the memory can be initiated.

CMD: Command Rate. The time it takes between the memory chip having been activated and when the first command may be sent to the memory. Sometimes this value is not informed. It usually is T1 (1 clock cycle) or T2 (2 clock cycles).


In the BIOS, CL=7 tRCD=7 tRP=7 tRAS=20.

 

[Vagike]

I'm trying to find a picture of the BIOS at the ram timings page to give you a bit more direction...

 

[Vagike]

does the ram timings page look something like this....

CLICK ME

 

[bluem4gic]

Cheers Vagike

Thanks for the info

I will try this out when I get home.

Hopefully this will fix my gaming woes

Thanks again

 

[bluem4gic]

One more question do I have to do that for each stick of ram?

Cheers again

 

[Vagike]

adjusting ram timings is common across all the DIMMs.

 

[ntdouglas]

7-7-7-20? Why so loose? I have never seen DDR2 timings that loose.

 

[Vagike]

Unfortunately, those are the timings for his 2x2 kit.